In 1963 my mother, Dulcie Held, had a life-changing experience when she represented the Lutheran Church in Australia at the Lutheran World Federation Assembly in Helsinki and at the women’s gathering held in Germany beforehand. In 1997 the Women’s Ministry Network held a conference with the theme ‘Women’s Stories and the Story of Jesus.’ On the first evening a number of people shared their personal stories about women in ministry. Recently I came across the handwritten script of the story my mother told at that conference; it was about the LWF Assembly in 1963. This is her story. 

One part of the liturgy in the sacrament which I like is, ‘This is my body’. When the people kneel around the altar, I say to myself, “This is the communion of saints which we confess in the creed.” How does Jesus fit into this phrase?

Someone painted a picture of the cross of Jesus. He is in the centre. The saints of the past and the future are on the vertical trunk of the cross, and we of the present era are on the horizontal arms. The arms of Jesus, even though nailed to the cross, invite us to accept the sacrifice which he has made for us!

I learnt this story in 1963 when I was surrounded by women of nearly thirty countries, first in Germany and then in Finland. The joy of joining with these fellow believers as we said the Lord’s Prayer in sixteen different languages has never left me. There was great sadness too. Each of the women had left her water pot at the well and was learning about looking for ways of telling the story of what Jesus had done for her.

In Germany there was the WALL. Led by a student, with strict instruction to carry nothing—no money, no presents, no written material—we went through Checkpoint Charlie! In East Berlin we met a group of women. It was dangerous for us to visit in the communist state, and it was dangerous for them to meet Christian women. They grieved for their children who were warned not to speak of their faith in school. One mother said her daughter came home so happy one day because she had found another Christian in the class in secret.

Apart from the courage of these Lutheran women who faced the constant danger of being arrested, they carried on the work of teaching and visiting the sick when their men were arrested. But their motto was written on a little card on the door of the building:

Thank you for giving me the morning,

Thank you for every day that dawns. 

“Danke, dass wir noch danken können.”

Back in West Berlin on Sunday morning we boarded a boat, together with women from Ethiopia, South Africa, Indonesia, Japan, Hong Kong, North America, England, Brazil, Argentina, New Guinea and Australia. There was to be a service on the boat, and the preacher was a woman. This was alien to my training as a loyal helper for my pastor husband, and I was uneasy. The text was, “The eye is the light of the body,” a text which had always baffled me. Nobody had ever given me a satisfying answer to my plea, “But what does it mean?” Suddenly I had the answer from a 70-year old pastor who had taken up her vocation after her husband had been banned. I cannot remember the whole sermon; but the illustration she used solved my problems. “The light which falls on a leaf causes it to grow; but the leaf is not conscious of the light.” So, the light of the world, Jesus, shining on us, causes our faith to grow!

The word of God explained by a woman spoke to a woman—probably all the women—and helped her to understand. Not all the women were ordained, but each had a story to tell. The enthusiasm of the new churches, and the joyful way that the women shared the work and the difficulties was infectious. Truly the communion of saints!

— Dulcie Held

I was in primary school when my mother embarked on this great adventure, which also included visits to many places in the USA to engage with women leaders and women’s groups. I didn’t really understand what was going on and it was an inconvenience to have my mother absent for such a long time. 

When she returned there was a change in her, an excitement about the many connections she had made, the friendships she had formed and the inspiration she received from the work that others were doing around the world. 

She was always ready for a challenge, thirsty for knowledge, caring of others, seeking justice for those who were struggling. She was a creative and encouraging teacher, often with a twinkle in her eye. She often found a way forward when others thought all was lost!

So when she returned to Australia she continued on that path and played a part in setting up the Retreat movement for women, increasing the caring ministry of the church through Lutheran Community Care and visiting those in hospital and mental health facilities, trying to strengthen the deaconess movement, and writing and presenting Bible studies. 

Having had the experience of the ministry of women, both ordained and un-ordained, she thought it was just a matter of time before women would be ordained in Australia. She saw that the ministry of women and men together enhances the spread of the gospel. Dulcie was deeply disappointed that she didn’t see women ordained in the LCA in her lifetime. 

As I reflect again on this story, I hear many questions that are still very relevant in our lives and the life of the church today.

• The ‘communion of saints’ includes all those who have gone before and those who are to come. Yet in 1966 with the formation of the LCA in 1966 we decided to cut our ties with all other Lutheran churches, including the Lutheran World Federation. We are still not full members. How has our isolationism deprived us of the sense of belonging to something bigger than our small church and prevented us from embracing diversity and being inspired by the way in which God works in other places and through both women and men in ministry?
• My mother was often torn between different demands on her time and energy. She had been a teacher, managing a one teacher school in the country. She married a pastor and suddenly her professional life was gone and she had to take on all the role expectations that came with being a pastor’s wife. Once she had a family, there was another set of expectations from society and the church. In a church which only ordains men, what are the questions today for a pastor’s wife, perhaps especially for those women who have a call to ordained ministry themselves?
• Dulcie was nervous about hearing a woman preach. It was alien to her and yet she heard the gospel. That put her mind at rest. What role does experience play in the acceptance of women in the ordained ministry?
• This story happened 57 years ago. How many more women who have been called to the public ministry have to join the unseen ‘communion of saints’ before we are ready to embrace what is possible when both women and men publicly proclaim God’s grace to all.

— Helen Lockwood